Community safety, security, health communication and emergency notification system with inter-organizational compatibility

ABSTRACT

A community safety system (CSS) including a notification management entity (NME) comprising servers, the NME communicatively coupled to multiple user devices and one or more administrator devices (collectively, registered user devices). The CSS includes a plurality of registered users, wherein each registered user is associated with an organization, and a user category of a set of user categories. The NME may maintain a list of the registered users and associated information. The registered users may have user devices including a CSS application operating thereon. In some embodiments the CSS enables inter-organizational communication, allowing for members of a first organization to provide alerts that the NME can pass to a second organization when the registered user is physically located within a security zone associated with a second organization but not a member of the second organization.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of, and claimsthe benefit of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/789,876filed Jul. 1, 2015, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/020,273 filed Jul. 2, 2014, and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/092,711 filed Dec. 16, 2014, and which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed technology relates generally to community notificationsystems, and more particularly, some embodiments relate to policeintegrated community communication and notification systems providingenhanced two-way interaction between users, administrators, and/or othercategories of registered users, faster response, decentralizednotification capabilities, direct police-community interaction, andother inter-organizational interactions and compatibilities to improveand enhance emergency communication.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

When emergencies arise on campuses, such as schools, hospitals,businesses, government buildings, and/or non-governmental organizations,providing information to the community is important in limiting thescope of the emergency. Some current solutions provide text-basednotification systems that sends a text or SMS broadcast message to allregistered users at the same time, informing those registered users of adeveloping situation and providing relevant information to the user.Such systems essentially rely solely on the cellular network, meaningthat the registered user must have a cell phone or other mobile devicethat is connected over the cellular network. Most of these systems arestrictly one-way, meaning that a broadcast message may be sent toregistered users, but registered users cannot contact the administratorregarding a developing emergency. Even in systems employing two-waycommunication systems, the method of communicating an emergency tosystem administrators requires the use of dedicated devices, such asdisparately placed call boxes, or the information is provided only to asingle, central entity (e.g., a single phone number or email address).Such systems also generally lack any type of location identification(e.g., GPS) to assist in pinpointing where an emergency is occurring.Reliance is on the person who is reporting a particular incident torelay geographic information, which may be difficult either due to theindividual's lack of knowledge of the area, or due to the threat itself.

When an emergency does arise, another important feature in addressingthe emergency is to maintain control over the campus itself. In somesituations, a campus may go into a “lockdown” mode, whereby heightenedsecurity measures are implemented such as requiring everybody to stayinside a particular room and not permitting anyone to enter theproperty. Generally, initiating such a procedure requires accessing alockdown system via a central terminal, typically located in a mainoffice or area. For example, in the school environment, the centralterminal is generally located at the front office of the school. In somecircumstances, however, the main area with the central terminal may becompromised, making it difficult or impossible to initiate the lockdown.In such situations, the community at large may remain ignorant of apotentially dangerous situation, potentially enhancing the dangerousnessof the situation.

Moreover, conventional notification systems tend to be single-entityfocused. That is, different organizations may have a dedicatednotification system for its members, which is unaffiliated with membersof other organizations. When an administrator and/or member of anorganization raises an alarm, only those who are part of theorganization's membership are alerted. Where the same emergency eventmay be relevant to multiple organizations (e.g., where multipleorganizations are co-located), each organization is alerted only if amember of each organization raises the alarm.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS

According to an embodiment of the disclosed technology, a communitysafety system is provided, comprising a notification management entitycomprising one or more servers, the notification management entity iscommunicatively coupled to a one or more user devices and one or moreadministrator devices. A plurality of registered users, wherein eachregistered user of the plurality of registered users is associated witha user category of a set of user categories. The notification managemententity maintains a list of the plurality of registered users and eachregistered user's associated user category. Registered users interactwith the notification management entity via a community safety systemapplication operating on each of the one or more user devices and theone or more administrator devices, wherein at least one of the one ormore administrator devices is associated with a police department.

According to an embodiment of the disclosed technology, a method ofproviding two-way communication in an emergency communication system ispresented, comprising a central management entity receiving an alertnotification from a first registered user via an application operatingon a user device, tagging the received alert notification withinformation identifying the first registered user, the centralmanagement entity broadcasting the tagged alert notification to one ormore registered users associated with an administrator user category,and opening a communication channel between the first registered userand the one or more registered users associated with an administratoruser category.

According to an embodiment of the disclosed technology, a method ofstaggered police notification is provided. The method comprisesreceiving a first alert notification from a first registered user,receiving a second alert notification from a second registered user,determining the elapsed time between receipt of the first alertnotification and receipt of the second alert notification, comparing theelapsed time with a threshold value, and if the elapsed time is lessthan the threshold value, a notification management entity of anotification system transmits a broadcast message to one or more policedepartments via a notification system application operating on a userdevice associated with the one or more police departments.

According to an embodiment of the disclosed technology, a method ofinter-organizational alert communication is provided, comprising anotification management entity receiving an alert from a user through acommunity safety system application operating on a user device. In somesuch embodiments, the notification management entity is responsible formanaging several different community safety systems associated withdifferent organizations. The notification management entity identifiesthe location of the user and uses the location to determine one or moreorganizations associated with the user's location. In variousembodiments, the determination may be done by checking whether theuser's location falls within the boundaries of a security zoneassociated with an organization. The notification management entity thensends the alert to the one or more organizations, irrespective of theuser's association with the organizations.

Other features and aspects of the disclosed technology will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, thefeatures in accordance with embodiments of the disclosed technology. Thesummary is not intended to limit the scope of any inventions describedherein, which are defined solely by the claims attached hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The technology disclosed herein, in accordance with one or more variousembodiments, is described in detail with reference to the followingfigures. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only andmerely depict typical or example embodiments of the disclosedtechnology. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader'sunderstanding of the disclosed technology and shall not be consideredlimiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability thereof. It should benoted that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawings are notnecessarily made to scale.

FIG. 1 is an example environment in which embodiments in accordance withthe technology of the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is an example community safety system in accordance withembodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an example student interface of an example community safetysystem interface operating on a user device accordance with embodimentsof the technology of the present disclosure, implemented in an exampleschool environment.

FIG. 4 is an example communication channel interface of an examplecommunity safety system application operating on a user device inaccordance with embodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an example broadcast message interface of an example communitysafety system application operating on a user device in accordance withembodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an example teacher interface of an example community safetysystem interface operating on a user device accordance with embodimentsof the technology of the present disclosure, implemented in an exampleschool environment.

FIG. 7 is an example lockdown initiation interface of an examplecommunity safety system application operating on a user device inaccordance with embodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an example parent interface of an example community safetysystem interface operating on a user device accordance with embodimentsof the technology of the present disclosure, implemented in an exampleschool environment.

FIG. 9 is an example administrator/police interface of an examplecommunity safety system interface operating on a user device accordancewith embodiments of the technology of the present disclosure,implemented in an example school environment.

FIGS. 10A & 10B are example broadcast generation interfaces interface ofan example community safety system interface operating on anadministrator device accordance with embodiments of the technology ofthe present disclosure, implemented in an example school environment.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an example alert notification process inaccordance with embodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is an example communication channel interface of an examplecommunity safety system application operating on an administrator devicein accordance with embodiments of the technology of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is an example location visualization interface of an examplecommunity safety system application operating on an administrator devicein accordance with embodiments of the technology of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 14 is an example environment where a student attempts to generatean alert notification while outside an example security zone, inaccordance with embodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of an example location-based capabilitydetermination method in accordance with embodiments of the technology ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of an example threshold-based automatic policenotification method in accordance with embodiments of the technology ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example computing module that may be used inimplementing various features of embodiments of the disclosedtechnology.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of an example location-based capabilitydetermination method including a student-parent association inaccordance with embodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C illustrate an example escort request interfacein accordance with embodiments of the technology of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate an example escort user interface inaccordance with embodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example situation of multiple organizationshaving individual security zones (with geo-fencing) in accordance withembodiments of the technology of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example process of inter-organizationalcommunication in accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosedherein.

FIG. 23A illustrates an example administrator interface in accordancewith embodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 23B illustrates an example population status interface inaccordance with embodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 24A illustrates an example student interface in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

FIG. 24B illustrates an example and population status response interfacein accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosed herein.

The figures are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventionto the precise form disclosed. It should be understood that theinvention can be practiced with modification and alteration, and thatthe disclosed technology be limited only by the claims and theequivalents thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The technology of the present disclosure addresses many of the drawbacksof current emergency systems for institutions, such as schools,hospitals, large venues, corporations, and other institutions.Embodiments of the technology disclosed herein provide a two-waycommunication system for initiating and broadcasting alerts of threatsand emergencies developing that affect those associated with theinstitutions. Anyone associated with the system is capable of sending analert notification to administrators (i.e., those responsible forensuring the safety of all associated with the institution) of a threator arising emergency, such as a shooter on the institution's campus,medical emergencies, or other emergency situations. Such alerts may beinitiated by use of an application operating on any user device, such asa mobile phone, PDA, smartwatch, laptop, or other mobile deviceconnected to a communication network, such as a cellular network, theInternet, or an intranet. This alleviates the drawbacks of standard callbox technology, and ensures that the most temporally-relevantinformation is communicated to those in charge from the best source ofvaluable information—the individual at the scene as it is developing.

Further, embodiments of the technology disclosed herein provide acentral management entity for managing communication between members ofthe institution. When an alert is initiated, the central managemententity creates a dedicated communication channel between the individualwho initiated the alert and one or more of the administratorsresponsible for protecting those associated with the institution.Individuals may provide additional details to the administrators inreal-time directly from the scene, providing invaluable information foraddressing and maintaining control of the situation.

The technology of the present disclosure further decentralizes thebroadcast notification capability. Administrators are capable ofgenerating broadcast notifications from anywhere via a user device. Insome cases, broadcast notifications may be tailored for a specificcategory of registered users, and transmitted solely to that impacteduser category. In this way, more tailored broadcast notifications arepossible without the potential to bog down the communication network,alleviating the potential for notification delays due to networkcongestion. Such issues have arisen in current emergency communicationsystems, sometimes with notifications not reaching the intendedrecipients anywhere between two hours after being sent (such as the casewith the Virginia Tech campus shooting) to even several days later.

A faster and more effective “lockdown” procedure may be achieved throughimplementation of embodiments of the present disclosure. A lockdown is aspecialized broadcast message intended to notify all those of a serioussituation occurring on campus. Generally, to initiate a lockdownprocedure, most current systems require that an individual locate a hardwired telephone and enter a code, or trigger the lockdown via a devicelocated in a central location, such as the main office of a school.However, if the emergency itself compromises the central location orrenders an individual's ability to reach a telephone improbable, thelockdown is not triggered, meaning that others in the institution willremain ignorant to the dangerous situation. In live shooter drillsconducted by police departments, one of the main drawbacks of currentsystems was the delay in triggering the lockdown procedure and in someinstances the inability to trigger the lockdown procedure altogether.

Embodiments of the technology disclosed herein addresses this drawbackthrough a one-touch lockdown initiator that registered users may triggervia any user device. This enables individuals to trigger the lockdownwithout the need to go to a specific location and use a designateddevice, allowing the lockdown to be initiated from anywhere. Thisreduces the potential for the lockdown initiation process to becompromised.

Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide directpolice-community interaction, unlike traditional emergency systems. Mostcurrent systems are self-contained, meaning that the police are not tieddirectly into the system. Instead, contact must be made with the policein addition to sending the notification out to members of the communityor institution. Embodiments of the technology disclosed herein include auser category for the police, enabling valuable information regarding anemergency directly to the police, instead of needing to be relayedseparately. Broadcast notifications may be sent to the police inaddition to the rest of the community. Moreover, some embodimentsinclude a special police notification capability. If the centralmanagement entity receives two alerts from different individuals withina certain amount of time of each other, the central management entitymay send a specialized notification directly to the police indicating apotentially dangerous situation developing. Multiple threats mayindicate one large emergency is developing that may require policeintervention, or that there are multiple emergencies at one time thatthe administrators may not be capable of addressing simultaneously.

In addition, by including the police within the emergency communicationsystem, the police are capable of directly interacting with members ofthe institution. Police may initiate alerts and generate broadcastmessages via a user device in the same way as any other member of theinstitution. This incorporation of the police within the system helpsbuild a greater relationship between the police and members of theinstitution, while allowing the police to directly communicate importantinformation to individuals in an efficient and effective manner.

Unlike many current systems, the embodiments of the technology disclosedherein address many of the privacy concerns arising in the new digitalage. In cases where members interact with the system via an applicationdownloaded onto a user device, such as a mobile phone or tabletcomputer, the need to ensure privacy is important. This is especiallytrue where embodiments are implemented at schools, where the privacy ofthe student is a major concern, as well as other organizations wheremaintaining the privacy of occupants or other personnel is criticallyimportant (e.g., hospitals, government entities). Although the centralmanagement entity is capable of obtaining location data regarding eachuser, such location information—obtained via a GPS receiver or otherlocation service of the user device—may not be obtained or logged untilthe user attempts to initiate an alert. Even then, in some embodimentsthe central management entity may be configured such that it does nottrack an individual's location once the initiated alert is ended.Moreover, in some embodiments the information is only obtained by thecentral management entity; no location data for a user is stored orobtained directly by an administrator, the police, emergency medicalservices (EMS) (e.g., police, fire departments, ambulances), or anyorganization utilizing the system. To further increase privacy andsecurity, no information regarding individuals are stored at the userdevice, only at the central management entity. In this way, informationis made available only when it is necessary to address an ongoingemergency.

Before describing in detail the technology of the present disclosure, itmay be helpful to describe an example environment in which embodimentsof the technology may be implemented. FIG. 1 shows an example CommunitySafety System (CSS) 100 in which embodiments of the technology disclosedherein may be implemented. A plurality of user devices 102 are connectedwith a notification management entity (NME) 104 through a network 106.The type of communication network represented by network 106 may vary,depending on the communication protocol available to the user devices102 at a given time. Some non-limiting examples of communicationprotocols over which the user devices 102 may connect to the network 106include: cellular telecommunications protocols, such as GSM, UMTS,CDMA2000, LTE, or WiMAX; wired communication methods, such as cable,DSL, dial-up, or fiber-optic; or wireless communication methods, such assatellite communications, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or near-field communication(NFC). The user devices 102 may be able to utilize more than one type ofcommunication protocol to connect with the network 106 in someembodiments.

User devices 102 may be any number of computing devices, having a memoryand processor. Non-limiting examples of user devices 102 are: desktopcomputers; laptops; tablets; cell phones; smart phones; wearabletechnology, such as smart watches; PDAs; or other communication devices.An alert system application running on the user devices 102 provides auser interface that enables users to communicate with the NME 104through the network 106. The alert system application may be anapplication downloaded to the user devices 102 and stored in memory. Insome embodiments, the alert system application may be operating withinanother program running on a user device 102, such as a web browser.

The user devices 102 communicate with the NME 104 through the network106. The NME 104 comprises one or more servers. In various embodiments,the NME 104 may be a data center where all the one or more servers arephysically co-located. Other embodiments may have the one or moreservers being located in different physical locations, with each of theservers being connected in a distributed computing network. In someembodiments, at least one of the one or more servers may be a virtualserver. The NME 104 may comprise a cloud server. In various embodiments,the NME 104 may comprise a combination of these different server types.

Having thus described an example environment in which the disclosedtechnology can be implemented, various features and embodiments of thedisclosed technology are now described in further detail. After readingthe description herein, it will become apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art that the disclosed technology can be implemented in any of anumber of different environments operating with any of a number ofdifferent user devices 102.

Embodiments of the technology disclosed herein provide an emergencynotification system, the CSS, for use by communities and differententities, such as schools, hospitals, and malls. The CSS notifiescommunities members of ongoing emergencies and dangerous situationsrelevant to the community members. In addition, the CSS provides asecure, two-way communication system to enable community members tonotify administrators, police, EMS and/or other responders of dangeroussituations and emergencies occurring at the time. FIG. 2 illustrates anexample implementation of the CSS 200 on a school campus in accordancewith the technology disclosed herein. For ease of discussion, thevarious features of the CSS 200 will be described herein in reference toan example implementation on a school campus. The use of a school campusas the example environment in no way should be read to limit theapplication of the technology described herein to only that environment.After reading the description herein, it will become apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art that the disclosed technology can beimplemented in any of a number of different communities, includinghospitals, malls, airports, exhibition halls, and other large areaswhere many people may be present.

The CSS 200 includes an NME 202, a plurality of user devices 206, atleast one administrator device 208, and a connection to the police 214.It should be appreciated that the police is used as just one example ofthe type of EMS entity that may be connected within the CSS 200. Any EMSorganization, public or private, or any other type of organization maybe tied into the system and capable of receiving or sending any one ormore of the notifications and alerts discussed herein. In variousembodiments, the NME 202 may be similar to the NME 104 described withrespect to FIG. 1. Each NME 202 services a particular security zone 210.The security zone 210 may be a single building 212 (i.e., a schoolbuilding) or multiple buildings 212 comprising a campus. In variousembodiments, the security zone 210 may encompass a continuous geographicarea defining a campus, or it may encompass one or more geographicallyseparate areas that together define a campus, such as satellitebuildings located a few blocks away from a main campus. The securityzone 210 may also encompass a buffer area around the campus. Forexample, the security zone 210 may encompass all the buildings 212within the campus, as well as a buffer zone comprising all thesurrounding area within 100 feet of the campus.

Each of the plurality of user devices 206 and the administrator device208 can communicate with the NME 202 over a network 204. The network 204may be similar to the network 106 described with respect to FIG. 1. Thenetwork 204 alerts to be sent to and from user devices 206 and at leastone administrator device 208 from the NME 202.

Although identified as user devices 206 and administrator device 208,both categories of devices may be similar to the user devices 102discussed above with respect to FIG. 1. For example, the administratordevice 208 may also be one or more of: desktop computers; laptops;tablets; cell phones; smart phones; wearable technology, such as smartwatches; PDAs; or other communication devices. The differentiationbetween user devices 206 and administrator devices 208 is related to theuser category associated with the particular device at the time ofoperation, based on the method of registration with the NME 202.Registration shall be discussed in detail below.

The NME 202 is responsible for ensuring a secure and private connectionbetween the user devices 206 and the at least one administrator device208. As will be described in more detail below with respect to FIGS.3-16, when the NME 202 receives an alert from one of the user devices206, the NME 202 creates a secure communication channel between the userdevice 206 that sent the alert and at least one of the administratordevices 208 registered with the system. The secure communication channelprovides two-way communication between the user who initiated the alertvia the user device 206 and an administrator using the administratordevice 208. In this way, the user may provide valuable additionalinformation regarding the extent of the emergency. For example, if amedical emergency is occurring, the user can inform the administrator ofthe type of medical emergency is ongoing, such as an allergic reaction.With this additional information, the administrator using theadministrator device 208 can identify the best course of action toaddress the situation.

In addition to creating secure communication channels, the NME 202 mayalso maintain a listing of all registered users on the CSS 200, and theuser category to which they belong. For example, an CSS 200 implementedfor a school environment may have the following types of usercategories: students; teachers; and administrators. In otherembodiments, greater or fewer categories may be included, depending onthe granularity desired by the implementing institution. Each usercategory may have different capabilities. For example, a student may beable to initiate an alert and view broadcasted messages, while a teachermay be able to initiate an alert, view broadcasted messages, andinitiate lockdown procedures via a lockdown button. In some embodiments,a “parents” user category may be included, which may be associated witha registered student to provide additional functionality to the studentuser. A more detailed discussion of the different capabilities availableto each example user category will be discussed with respect to FIGS.3-16.

The CSS 200 may include a connection to the police 214 (or other EMS).In various embodiments, other emergency management entities may beincluded in lieu of, or in addition to, the EMS. Some non-limitingexamples of other emergency management entities may include hospitals,fire departments, or authoritative entities (e.g., private health andemergency organizations). In some embodiments, governmental agencies(e.g., FEMA, DHS, etc.) may also be connected within the CSS 200. Aperson of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the discussionherein, whether explained with respect to EMS interconnection generallyor a single EMS entity such as the police, is applicable other emergencymanagement entities, governmental agencies, or any organization desiredfor a given implementation of the presently disclosed technology.

Referring to FIG. 2 by way of example, the police 214 may interact withthe CSS 200 in a variety of ways. In some embodiments, the police 214may have a central terminal installed at one or more police departmentswithin a certain distance of the security zone 210, such as, forexample, a desktop computer. Police officers on duty and responsible forthe area within which the security zone 210 is located may haveadministrator devices 208 in various embodiments that are connected tothe NME 202 over the network 204.

By including the police 214 (or other EMS, for example) within the CSS200, greater community-police interaction (or other community-EMSinteraction, for example) is possible, thereby enabling the exchange ofinformation between the two entities. In addition, by looping the police214 (or other EMS, for example) into the CSS 200, response time toemergencies may be reduced, and the information communicated to the EMSentities may result in an improved response (as more information as tothe situation is conveyed faster). In some embodiments, the CSS 200 mayinclude a police (or other EMS) notification trigger, which in someembodiments may be a threshold related to the number of alerts receivedby the NME 202 within a given period that sends a special notificationto the police 214 (or other EMS) of one or more emergencies ongoing inthe security zone 210.

For example, if the NME 202 receives two or more alerts within afive-minute period, the NME 202 immediately transmits the alert to thepolice 214. In this way, no one individual need contact the police suchthat, if the main office is compromised for some reason, the police willstill be notified without requiring a person to physically pick up thephone and dial 911.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example threshold-based automatic notificationmethod in accordance with embodiments of the technology of the presentdisclosure. Utilizing embodiments of the threshold-based automaticpolice notification method enable a NME 202 to alert police without theneed for an administrator to initiate an alert be sent to the police214. At 1602, an administrator sets a police notification trigger value.The police notification trigger value may be a set period between alertnotifications received from multiple users in some embodiments, suchthat the NME 202 will send a broadcast notification to the police 214(in the illustrated example) if the time between two consecutive alertnotifications received by the NME 202 from two registered users is lessthan the set period. In various embodiments, the police notificationtrigger value may be a set number of notifications received by the NME202 during a set period, such that if the NME 202 receives four or morealert notifications within five minutes, the NME 202 immediatelynotifies the police 214. If the police notification trigger value is notexceeded in such embodiments prior to expiration of the period, theprocess starts over again.

At 1604, the NME 202 receives a first alert from a user device at afirst time. The NME 202 records the time of the first alert. In someembodiments, the user device of 1604 may be an administrator device,i.e. a device utilized by a registered user associated with anadministrator user category who is logged into a CSS applicationoperating on the device. At 1606, the NME 202 receives a second alertfrom a second user device at a second time. Again, the NME 202 recordsthe time of the second alert.

At 1608, the NME 202 identifies the period between the first time of thefirst alert and the second time of the second alert, and determineswhether that period falls within the police notification trigger valueset by the administrator at 1602. If YES, at 1610 the NME 202 transmitsa special alert to the police 214. In some embodiments, the specialalert may comprise a broadcast message to one or more administratordevices associated with the police 214 indicating that multiple eventsare developing on campus. The NME 202 may attach a detailed listing ofthe types of emergencies ongoing to the special alert in variousembodiments, to provide the police 214 with additional relevantinformation.

If the period between the first time of the first alert and the secondtime of the second alert is greater than the police notification triggervalue set by the administrator at 1602, the NME 202 does not take anyaction outside its normal operation, illustrated at 1612. Though theforegoing threshold-based automatic notification technology has beendiscussed with reference to a connection with the police, it should beappreciated that this is merely presented as one useful but nonlimitingexample of the presented technology. Indeed, it should be appreciatedthat the technology disclosed herein may extend to implementationshaving connections to one or more other EMS entities or otherorganizations, depending on the desired objectives.

The users, administrators, and police may interact with the CSS 200through a CSS application operating on the user devices 206 oradministrator devices 208. The CSS application provides a user interfacethrough which a user, administrator, or the police may send and receivealerts and communications through the NME 202 of the CSS 200. Asdiscussed above, the CSS 200 may provide different user categories thatmay be associated with different registered users, providing differentcapabilities based on the associated user category.

Accordingly, each user is registered with the NME 202 prior to beingincluded within the CSS 200. In some embodiments, the registration maybe based on the particular user device 206 or administrator device 208on which the CSS application is operating. Non-limiting examples ofinformation indicative of the specific device that may be utilized forregistration include: Internet protocol (IP) address of the device;media access control (MAC) address of the device; serial number of thedevice; and other unique identifiers associated with user devices 206and administrator devices 208. In other embodiments, registration may bebased on unique identifiers related to a particular user logged into theCSS application operating on a user device 206 or administrator device208. Non-limiting examples of unique identifiers related to a particularuser include: an email address; a username; or the last four digits ofthe user's social security number; or any other unique identifier.

Privacy is a key concern in developing an emergency alert system similarto embodiments in accordance with the technology discussed herein.Although it is important to know who is generating alerts and theirassociated with an institution, it is important to make sure that nottoo much information is obtained that a person's privacy is thought tobe violated. This is enhanced when dealing with minors, such as primaryschool-aged students, or when dealing with personnel or other occupantsof information sensitive organizations, such as government agencies, themilitary, hospitals, or non-governmental agencies (NGOs), to name a few.In some cases, the registration process may only require the user'sfirst and last name, and an associated email address. In this way, theperson is identified by their given name, and the email address may beused for verification purposes.

Through registration, the NME 202 is capable of monitoring what usersare capable of generating alert notifications. In addition, registrationenables the NME 202 to include identifying information of the user, suchas the user's name, to curtail the possibility of false alert generationby anonymous users. In some embodiments, the NME 202 may require that anadministrator or supervisor of the institution implementing the CSS 200must verify any user attempting to register with the CSS 200 before theuser is permitted to access the NME 202. The addition of users may needto be conducted by the implementing institution in some embodiments,instead of allowing individual users to attempt to register themselves.User information may be inherited from one or more databases ormanagement information systems associated with an institution ororganization in various embodiments. For example, where the CSS 200 isimplemented within a school environment, user information could beinherited from school or school district databases, such as a studentinformation system managed by the school district. When the studentgraduates or leaves a particular school, the CSS 200 can update based oninformation from the student information system indicating that thestudent is no longer associated with that particular school or CSS 200,and may remove them from the system.

Although described with respect to a single institution, the CSS 200 mayinclude multiple physical institutions, e.g., the CSS 200 covers anentire school district with multiple individual schools. In suchembodiments, the CSS 200 may be managed by a school district. The NME202 may be configured to dedicate one or more servers to each school,creating multiple sub-CSS domains within the CSS 200. The multiplesub-CSS domains may be serviced by all the servers of the NME 104 insome embodiments, and the NME 104 may be configured to provideadditional processing power to a particular sub-CSS domain based on thebandwidth necessary at a particular time, i.e., if an emergency isongoing and messages need be sent to a large number of registered users.In this way, the CSS 200 enables robust response and can ensure thatmessages are delivered in a timely fashion.

As discussed above, each user category is provided differentcapabilities within the CSS 200. In the present example implementationon a school campus, there are five different user categories: student;parent; teacher; administrator; and police. Although the present examplehas five categories, other example implementations may have greater orfewer user categories, depending on the different types of users thatmay be present in the security zone 210, or the number of differences incapabilities that the implementing institution wants to provide.

Each user, administrator, and police department/officer may interactwith the CSS 200 through a CSS application operating on the user devices206 or the administrator device 208. The capabilities available to eachuser are dependent on the user category associated with the user. When aregistered user logs into the CSS application on a device, the NME 202identifies the user category to which the logged-in user is associatedand provides a user interface enabled with the capabilities availablefor that user category. FIGS. 3-16 are example user interfaces inaccordance with the technology of the present disclosure. Exampleembodiments identifying different capabilities for the example usercategories identified above will be described within reference to FIGS.3-16.

FIG. 3 is an example student user interface 300 in accordance withvarious embodiments of the technology disclosed herein. Throughout theinstant disclosure certain categories of users, such as students, may bereferred to as non-administrators when, depending on the implementation,they are not associated with an administrator category and do not haveadministrator capabilities. For instance, in the example school campusimplementation, the student user interface 300 may be thought of simplya non-administrator user interface associated with a student usercategory. Through student user interface 300, a student may be allowedto generate an alert and view broadcast messages. As illustrated in FIG.3, the student user interface 300 includes an alert type area 302. Astudent may use the alert type area 302 to select a type of alert togenerate. In various embodiments, the alert type area 302 may include aset of pre-defined alert types represented by selectable icons. In theillustrated student user interface 300, the alert type area 302 includesseveral pre-defined alert types: an alert for a weapon on campus; analert for weather-related emergencies; an alert for an unknown orsuspicious person being on or near campus; an alert for drug use orsales occurring on campus; an alert for a fight about to start orongoing; and an alert for a medical emergency. Additional categories maybe included in other embodiments, such as a type for maintenance-relatedemergencies (i.e., water pipe burst on campus). A user-definable typemay be included in some embodiments to enable the student to providetheir own defined type of emergency, in the event the emergency does notfall within the pre-defined types in the alert type area 302.

Once the student has selected the type of alert from the alert type area302, the student can send the alert by clicking the “Send Alert” button304. By hitting the “Send Alert” button 304, an alert notification issent to the NME 202 illustrated in FIG. 2. In some embodiments, thealert may be sent after a certain amount of time passes after thestudent selects the alert type in the alert type area 302, without theneed to hit a “Send Alert” button 304. In some situations, it may bebetter and safer to enable a one-touch alert, instead of requiring thestudent to hit the “Send Alert” button 304. Various embodiments mayinclude a quick-alert shortcut, wherein the user may bypass the need tohit the “Send Alert” button 304. Where the CSS application is running ona device having a traditional input system (e.g., a mouse), the studentmay simply double-click the selectable icon within the alert type area302, immediately sending the alert. Where the CSS application is runningon a device having a touchscreen or other pressure sensitive input, theCSS application may immediately send the alert based on the pressureapplied in selecting the selectable icon. Light pressure may select theselectable icon, but heavy pressure may select the type of alert andinitiate the alert in one motion.

After receiving the alert from the student, the NME 202 identifies theregistered individuals associated with the administrator user category,and sends the alert to one or more of those identified administrators.By alerting those associated with the administrator user category, thosewith the authority to initiate a lockdown procedure can determinewhether such a procedure is necessary, based on the nature of thereceived alert. In some embodiments, the NME 202 may send the alert toall the administrators associated with the administrator user category.In various embodiments, the NME 202 may send the alert to a subset ofthose associated with the administrator user category.

In addition to routing the alert to one or more of the registeredadministrators, the NME 202 also opens a dedicated communication channelbetween the student's user device 206 and one or more of theadministrator's administrator devices 208. FIG. 4 illustrates an examplecommunication channel interface 400 opened in the CSS applicationoperating on the student's user device in accordance with embodiments ofthe technology of the present disclosure. By providing the communicationchannel, administrators are capable of obtaining additional informationregarding the ongoing emergency from the student who initiated thealert. The NME 202 opens the communication channel interface 400 in theCSS application operating on the student user device 206 immediatelyafter the student sends the alert in some embodiments. In otherembodiments, the NME 202 may delay in opening the communication channelinterface 400 on the student user device 206 until at least one of theadministrator devices 208 acknowledges the alert and is ready to speakwith the student. A similar communication channel interface 400 is alsoopened on at least one of the administrator devices 208 that acknowledgethe alert. In some embodiments, more than one administrator device 208may acknowledge the alert, and the NME 202 will open a similarcommunication channel interface 400 on each acknowledged administratordevice 208. In such embodiments, a group communication is establishedbetween the student user device 206 and each acknowledging administratordevice 208, allowing all participants to see the ongoing communication.

The ability for two-way communication between the student who initiatedthe alert and the one or more administrators enabled by thecommunication channel interface 400 opened by the NME 202 improves thetraditional one-way, text-based notification systems currently employedon institutional campuses. Allowing students to initiate alerts via auser device 206 from anywhere on campus reduces the time necessary toprovide valuable information to administrators or the authorities,alleviating the issues related to stationary call boxes. Further,information may be gathered in real-time, removing the delay between theidentification of an emergency and administrators and authoritiesarriving at the scene.

In some embodiments, students and administrators may transmit more thanjust text-based messages to each other, further improving upon thecurrent systems. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the communication channelinterface 400 may include the ability to send voice recordings bytoggling a microphone button 404. When engaged, the microphone button404 activates the microphone of the user device 206 to enable thestudent to record a message to send to the one or more administratordevices 208. In some embodiments, the microphone button 404 may open anaudio stream through the NME 202 in the event that the student is unableto type a text-based message or wants to allow the administrators tolisten to everything that is ongoing. Where the user device is equippedwith a camera, the microphone button 404 (or other button) may open avideo and/or audio stream through the NME 202, such that images and/oraudio of the scene may be streamed to the requisite administrators, EMSpersonal, organizations, or other crisis managers, in variousembodiments.

Students may also attach files to send to the one or more administratordevices through the communication channel interface 400 by selecting anattachment button 408. The files attached by the student may be filesstored in the memory of the user device 206 in some embodiments. Thefiles may include documents, photos, video, or other data item that thestudent wants to send to the administrator devices. In some embodiments,students may also be able to send stored video clips or streaming videothrough the communication channel interface 400 to the administratordevices 208.

Although described in relation to the capabilities of the student withinthe communication channel interface 400, each administrator may be ableto send text, audio, video, or other types of data to the student viathe similar communication channel interface operating on theadministrator devices 208.

In various embodiments, once the student has initiated an alert throughthe student user interface 300 of FIG. 3, the student may onlycommunicate with administrators until the alert is ended. Thecommunication channel interface 400 of FIG. 4 may include an “End Alert”button 402 in some embodiments, which a student may use to end an alertthat that student initiated through an CSS application operating on thestudent's user device 206. Students may only end alerts that theparticular student initiated; those associated with the student usercategory do not have the capability to end alerts initiated by anotherperson.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the example student user interface 300 mayfurther include an audible alert trigger 308 in various embodiments.Some emergency situations may require an audible and visible alert atthe scene. For example, if a student is being stalked or followed by astranger, or is being assaulted, alerting those within the vicinity asto the emergency may help cease or prevent further harm. In variousembodiments, a student may trigger an audible alarm by sliding theaudible alert trigger 308. Where the student's user device includes atouch screen, the student may trigger the audible alarm by swiping theaudible alert trigger 308 to one side. The direction of the swipe may beconfigured based on the dominant hand of the student: in someembodiments, the swipe may be to the left, in other embodiments, theswipe may be to the right. In some embodiments, the student may be ableto swipe in the left or right direction. When used, the audible alerttrigger 308 of the CSS application may initiate a loud alarm soundutilizing speaker included within the user device, alerting those nearbyof an emergency and potentially scaring off the suspicious character orattacker. In various embodiments, the audible alert trigger 308 may alsotrigger a visible indicator, such as flashing a light included withinthe user device.

To ensure that students do not accidently initiate the audible alerttrigger 308, the CSS application may identify whether a swipe wasintended or not in various embodiments. The CSS application may onlyinitiate the audible alert if the student swipes the audible alerttrigger fully across the screen, indicating that the student trulyintended to initiate the alert. If the student does not fully swipeacross the screen, the audible alert trigger 308 may return to itsoriginal position and the CSS application would not initiate the audiblealert.

Both the example student user interface 300 and the communicationchannel interface 400 allow a student to view broadcast notifications byclicking on a broadcast message button 306, 406. Broadcast messages arenotifications broadcast by one or more administrators to all registeredusers of the CSS 200 of FIG. 2, providing information regardingemergencies occurring within the security zone 210. In this way, thebroadcast messages keep everyone informed of ongoing situations, and canbe used to provide relevant information, such as locations ofprotection, open exits, and to warn those not within the security zone210 to stay away until the emergency is resolved. The broadcast messagebutton 306, 406 may be represented by an icon, like the radio tower iconin the illustrated examples of FIGS. 3 and 4. In other embodiments, thebroadcast message button 306, 406 may be a text button, similar to theillustrated example “End Alert” button 402.

An example broadcast message interface 500 in accordance with thetechnology disclosed herein is illustrated in FIG. 5. As illustrated,the broadcast message interface 500 includes a listing of the broadcastmessages sent by administrators and/or the police (or other EMS entity)to all registered users of the CSS 200 of FIG. 2. An example broadcastmessage 502 shows a broadcast message related to an initiated lockdownprocedure. Another example broadcast message 504 shows a broadcastmessage containing evacuation or relocation information related to anemergency occurring at Demo High School. The broadcast message interface500 may store a listing of all the broadcast messages sent byadministrators and/or police to the registered users of the CSS 200 insome embodiments. In other embodiments, the broadcast message interface500 may list only the last x number of broadcast messages, such as thelast 10, 20, or 35 broadcast messages. Each broadcast message shown inthe broadcast message interface 500 may have an expiration value invarious embodiments, wherein the broadcast message is no longer shown inthe broadcast message interface 500 after a certain amount of time, orother measurement variable (i.e., only the last four broadcast messagesare shown). The broadcast message notifications visible in the broadcastmessage interface 500 may be stored locally on a user device or anadministrator device, or the notifications may be stored at the NME andpushed or pulled to the user device or administrator device when thebroadcast message button 306, 406 is activated.

In some embodiments, the CSS 200 may further enable students to requestescorts in the event the student does not feel safe traveling alone orneeds assistance for some reason. FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C illustrates anexample escort request interface 1900 in accordance with embodiments ofthe technology of the present disclosure. A student may enter the escortrequest interface 1900 by selecting an escort request button in anoptions menu of the example student user interface 300 of FIG. 300. Insome embodiments, the options menu may be a drop down menu available onthe student user interface 300 or it may be accessible by clicking orswiping to the side of the student used interface 300.

As shown in FIG. 19A, the escort request interface 1900 may include amap marker area 1902. The student may use the map marker area 1902 toindicate where on the map a student. In some embodiments, the CSS 200may obtain location data from the user device and use the locationinformation in identifying where the student is on the map in the mapmarker area 1902. The student may, in some embodiments, move the markeridentifying where the student is to another location, if the studentwants to meet the requested escort at another location. In someembodiments, the student may also enter a destination address.

After the student has identified where the student is located or wantsto be picked up, the student may request an escort by selecting the“Request Escort” button 1904. In some embodiments, the request may besent automatically once the student presses the “Request Escort” button1904. In other embodiments, a confirmation screen may be displayed bythe CSS application to ensure that the student wants to request theescort. In such embodiments, where the CSS application is running on adevice having a traditional input system (e.g., a mouse), the studentmay simply double-click the “Request Escort” button 1904, immediatelysending the request. Where the CSS application is running on a devicehaving a touchscreen or other pressure sensitive input, the CSSapplication may immediately send the request based on the pressureapplied in selecting the “Request Escort” button 1904. Light pressuremay register as a normal press of the “Request Escort” button 1904, butheavy pressure may bypass any delay or confirmation screen andimmediately send the request.

Once the request has been sent and accepted, the escort requestinterface 1900 may indicate to the student that the request has beenaccepted and provide an estimated time of arrival for the escort. FIG.19B illustrates an example escort request interface 1900 for such anembodiment. In some embodiments, the escort request interface 1900 mayinclude additional information. Some non-limiting examples of additionalinformation that may be provided to the student via the escort userinterface 1900 of FIG. 19B include: the name of the escort; a picture ofthe escort to enable the student to identify the escort; the phonenumber of the escort; or estimated routes that may be taken once theescort arrives to reach the intended destination, if the student is ableto enter a destination address. As the escort moves closer to thestudent, the escort request interface 1900 of FIG. 19B may display tothe student the actual location of the escort.

FIG. 19C illustrates an example escort request interface 1900 once theescort has begun in accordance with embodiments of the technologydisclosed herein. As shown in FIG. 19C, the escort request interface1900 indicates that the escort is in progress. In some embodiments, theCSS 200 may be capable of determining that the escort has begun based onthe relative locations of the student and the escort, as identifiedbased on location information obtained from each respective user device.Various embodiments may require that the escort indicate that the escorthas begun using a CSS application running on the escort's user device.

Although described with respect to a registered user associated with astudent user category, some embodiments may enable any registered userto request an escort. For example, in some embodiments a registered userassociated with a teacher user category may need an escort to helpassist in moving from one place to another.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example teacher user interface 600 where (incontinuing with the school example environment) the user is associatedwith the teacher user category in accordance with embodiments of thetechnology of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, theteacher user interface 600 is similar to the example student userinterface 300 of FIG. 3. In various embodiments, the teacher usercategory has the same capabilities to create an alert (602, 604),communicate with administrator devices 208 (i.e., a similarcommunication channel interface 400 as illustrated in FIG. 4), and viewbroadcast messages (i.e., broadcast message button 606). These functionsof the teacher user interface 600 function in a similar way as thosedescribed above with regards to FIGS. 3 and 4. Although not shown inFIG. 400, the example teacher user interface 600 may include an audiblealert trigger similar to the audible alert trigger 308 illustrated inFIG. 3.

As discussed above, a key to resolving emergencies is the ability tocontrol the campus, which is usually achieved by initiating a “lockdown”of the campus. In various embodiments, a lockdown includes sending abroadcast message to all registered users and administrators indicatingthat the school is on lockdown. Many active shooter drills, performed bypolice departments to check the lockdown procedures of schools, haveidentified, however, that lockdown procedures were too slow. This meansthat it took too long for the lockdown to be initiated, enabling thelive shooter to injury and/or kill one or more persons on campus. One ofthe reasons for the slowness of the lockdown procedure was that alockdown generally needed to be initiated from the front office. If anemergency compromised the front office, a lockdown procedure may neveractually be initiated.

To address these issues related to initiation of a lockdown, embodimentsof the CSS 200 in accordance with the present disclosure provides aone-touch lockdown capability. Because teachers themselves may be theclosest school officials/employees with sufficient information todetermine whether the situation calls for a lockdown to be initiated,some embodiments of the teacher user interface 600 includes a lockdowninitiator 608. If necessary, a teacher may use his or her user device206 to initiate a download by pressing the lockdown initiated 608. Insome embodiments, the lockdown procedure may begin immediately after theteacher presses the lockdown initiator 608. To provide for potentialunintended initiations, a timed delay may begin once the lockdowninitiator 608 is pressed, providing a period during which the lockdownmay be cancelled, in some embodiments. In such embodiments, the CSSapplication may enable immediate initiation of a lockdown in similarfashion as the immediate alert generation described above with respectto FIG. 3 and the double-click/heavy pressure functionality. Forexample, a double-click on the lockdown initiator 608, or heavy pressureon the lockdown initiator 608, may result in an immediate initiation ofthe lockdown procedure, bypassing any delay. An example lockdowninitiation interface 700 in accordance with the present disclosure isillustrated in FIG. 7.

A teacher user category may also be capable of serving as an escort, asdescribed above with respect to FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C. Escorts couldalso be registered users associated with other categories, such asadministrators, supervisors, police, or even other students. When actingas an escort, a registered user may accept a request for an escort andassist another registered user. FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate an exampleescort user interface 2000 in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 20A, the escort user interface 2000may display to the registered user acting as the escort informationindicating that a student or other registered user as requested anescort. The escort user interface 2000 may also display additionalinformation, such as but not limited to the name of the requester, phonenumber of the requester, a photo of the requester, the intendeddestination, or other information relevant to deciding whether to assistwith the escort.

The registered user acting as the escort may press an “Accept” button2002 to indicate that he or she is willing to assist in escorting therequester. In some embodiments, pressing the “Accept” button 2002 mayresult in the escort user interface 20A changing to indicate that therequest has been accepted and the time until arrival. In someembodiments, this escort user interface 2000 may be similar to theescort request interface 1900 described above with respect to FIG. 19B.Various embodiments may include a button to open a communication channelwith the requester, similar to the communication channel described abovewith respect to FIG. 4.

If the registered user acting as the escort does not want to accept therequest for some reason, the user could press the “Deny” button 2004. Bypressing the “Deny” button 2004, the escort user interface 1900 maychange and look like the escort user interface 1900 illustrated in FIG.20B. The request that was denied may be removed from the escort userinterface 2000 of FIG. 20B. Where there are no more currently pendingescort requests, the escort user interface 2000 of FIG. 20B may indicatethat there are no additional requests.

In some embodiments in accordance with the technology of the presentdisclosure, the CSS may include a user category for individuals who, allthough not directly associated with an institution, may still have aninterest in emergencies that may arise. In the example schoolimplementation, such a user category may consist of parents or legalguardians of students attending the school. FIG. 8 is an example parentuser interface 800 in accordance with the technology of the presentdisclosure. As illustrated, the capabilities of the parent user categoryis more limited than the student or teacher user category discussedabove with respect to FIGS. 3-7. In the illustrated example, the parentuser interface 800 provides a broadcast message button 802 to enableregistered users associated with the parent user category to receive andview broadcast messages, similar to the broadcast message capabilitydiscussed above with respect to the student user interface 300 andteacher user interface 600.

In some embodiments, the parent user interface 800 may also include anongoing alerts button 804, which displays information related to alertsthat have been generated but have yet to be resolved. The ongoing alertsbutton 804 may provide an interface showing any ongoing alerts triggeredby a student associated with the parent in some embodiments. Alertstriggered by teachers for students associated with the parent may alsobe visible by pressing the ongoing alerts button 804 in variousembodiments. In this way, parents can stay informed about alertsgenerated by those school employees, namely teachers, whom are incontact with the parent's child.

Various embodiments of the parent user interface 800 may include aresolved alerts button 806, which provides a listing of alerts that havebeen resolved, meaning the emergency has been addressed and is no longerongoing. Users associated with the parent user category may view allresolved alerts that have been triggered within the CSS by pressing theresolved alerts button 806. By providing a listing of all resolvedalerts, parents may keep abreast of the goings on at the school, toprovide an idea of the level of safety provided by the institution. Inother embodiments, the resolved alerts button 806 may provide aninterface displaying only those resolved alerts which the student orstudents associated with the parent initiated.

Although the parent user category has been shown to have only passive,monitoring capabilities in the example parent user interface of FIG. 8,other embodiments and implementations of the present disclosure mayprovide active capabilities for the parent user category. For example,some embodiments may enable the parent user category to initiate analert. The extent of the capabilities provided to the parent usercategory depends on the particular implementation and the intentions ofthe implementing institution.

In addition to enabling parents to be kept abreast of emergenciesaffecting an associated student, the CSS 200 may allow for eachparent-student grouping to identify multiple security zones of interestin various embodiments. For example, in addition to the security zoneassociated with the school, the student may also be associated with asecond security zone—or home zone—encompassing the student's home. TheCSS 200 may be configured to alert the associated parent when thestudent leaves or enters either the main security zone or the home zone.In this way, the associated parent would be capable of determiningwhether something has gone on between the student leaving school for theday and coming home, or vice versa. The CSS 200 may be configured toidentify when a student user as entered or left a zone, and generate anotification that is sent to the associated parent user.

Another user category of the example school implementation is theadministrator user category. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 2,an administrator device 208 is a device where the register user loggedinto the CSS application operating on the device is associated with theadministrator user category. In the example school implementation, anadministrator may be the school principal, vice principal,administrative staff, campus security, or other school officials grantedthe responsibility of addressing emergencies that arise on campus. Insome cases, all teachers may also be associated with the administratoruser category, and no separate teacher user category need be utilized.

FIG. 9 is an example administrator user interface 900 in accordance withthe technology of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 9, theadministrator user interface 900 provides the greatest amount ofcapabilities compared with the student user interface 300, teacher userinterface 600, or parent user interface 800.

The example administrator user interface 900 provides many of the samecapabilities that have been described above. Various embodiments provideadministrators with the ability to initiate alerts by pressing a SendAlert button 902, which brings up an alert type area and interfacesimilar to the student user interface 300 and the teacher user interface600. A broadcast messages button 904, ongoing alerts button 906, andresolved alerts button 908 may be provided in various embodiments. Thesebuttons may function in a similar way as those described above withrespect to the parent user interface 800, without the restrictions basedon association with a student or other user category. As anadministrator, it would be important to allow the administrator to viewall alerts and broadcasts initiated within the CSS in order to stayabreast of all occurrences on campus. The administrator user interface900 may also include a lockdown initiator 910, similar to the onedescribed above with respect to the teacher user interface 600.

In addition to similar functionality shared with one or more of thestudent, teacher, and parent user categories, the administrator userinterface 900 may also include the capability to generate and send outbroadcast messages to some or all of the registered users of the CSS. Bypressing the Send Broadcast button 912, an administrator may create abroadcast message, similar to the example broadcast message 504described above with respect to FIG. 5.

FIG. 10A illustrates an example broadcast generation interface 1000 inaccordance with the technology of the present disclosure. The broadcastgeneration interface 1000 is displayed on the administrator device whenthe Send Broadcast button 912 is pressed. An administrator may create abroadcast message, providing information relevant to the registeredusers of the CSS. As illustrated in FIG. 10B, the administrator mayselect one or more of the user categories as recipients of the broadcastmessage generated through the broadcast generation interface 1000. Forexample, using the user category list 1005, the administrator may chooseto send a broadcast message only to the teacher user category.

To ensure that broadcast messages or multiple alert notifications aresent and received in a timely manner, the NME 202 may be configured tohandle 100% load at a given time. For example, in some embodiments theNME 202 may include additional servers and/or load capacity than isrequired during quiet periods. When a large transmittal of informationis required, such as if a large emergency occurs and a broadcast messageneed be sent to all registered users, the NME 202 may identify the needfor additional capacity and utilize its entire capacity. This dedicationof resources ensures that all messages are timely sent and received,thus avoiding the delays that have occurred with current systems.Various embodiments may have one or more servers or areas of capacitywithin the NME 202 dedicated to servicing only broadcast messages,thereby ensuring sufficient capacity for such situations.

As discussed above with respect to FIG. 2, the police 214 may also beone of the user categories for the CSS 200. By including the police 214within the CSS 200, the police 214 are capable of staying abreast ofemergencies occurring within the security zone 210 of the CSS 200. Insome embodiments, the police 214 may have similar capabilities as thoseof the administrator user category described above with respect to FIG.9. The police 214 may have the ability to generate broadcast messages,like the administrator user category. By including the police 214 withinthe CSS 200 and providing the ability to generate broadcast messageslike administrators, embodiments of the technology disclosed hereinprovide an informational advantage to registered users of the CSS 200over other emergency notification systems.

Under current systems, the police are capable, at the most, of receivinginformation about an emergency from those at the scene, generally onlyafter arriving at the scene themselves. The two-way communicationcapable with embodiments of the present disclosure enable the police toreceive timely information from those at the scene in a timely manner,and also to present relevant information to the community at large in aneffective manner. This leads to a more robust response and a betterinformed community. In addition, the police may also utilize a system inaccordance with embodiments of the technology of the present disclosureto provide information to the registered users of other emergencies orsituations that may not be directly related to the campus, but which thepolice believe the registered users should be aware or could helpresolve.

Although the example school implementation discusses including thepolice 214 within the CSS 200, other public authorities may also beregistered with the CSS 200. For example, the fire department may beregistered with the CSS 200. In some embodiments, the police departmentand the fire department may be separated into distinct user categories,or the departments could be lumped into a civil service user category.As another example, the local hospital may be registered with the CSS200, to enable faster dispatch of ambulances to the school or otherinstitution.

Having just described the basic capabilities of each of the differentexample user categories, the interactions between the differentcomponents of the system for different notification events will now bedescribed in detail.

As discussed above, many of the user categories are capable ofinitiating alerts, whereby one or more administrators are notified of anemergency within the security zone of the CSS. FIG. 11 is an exampleprocess flow of the alert notification process in accordance with thetechnology of the present disclosure. At 1102, an alert notification isinitiated by a first registered user via an CSS application operating onthe first registered user's device. In the example schoolimplementation, the first registered user may be a student, teacher,administrator, or the police. In other embodiments, the user categoriesmay differ.

At 1104, the NME receives the alert notification initiated by the firstregistered user. The NME is communicatively coupled to the CSSapplication of the first user's device via a network. The network may beone of: cellular telecommunications protocols, such as GSM, UMTS,CDMA2000, LTE, or WiMAX; wired communication methods, such as cable,DSL, dial-up, or fiber-optic; or wireless communication methods, such assatellite communications or Wi-Fi.

At 1106, upon receiving the alert notification, the NME tags the alertnotification with information identifying the first registered user. Bytagging the alert notification with information identifying the user whoinitiated the alert, the system injects accountability into the processto curtail prank alerts from being set off. In some embodiments, the NMEmay tag the alert notification with information identifying the locationof the first registered user. The location data may come from a GPSmodule operating within the first registered user's device. Variousembodiments may include the location data with the alert notification.In other embodiments, the NME may pull the information from the firstregistered user's device once the NME receives the alert notification.

Although location information may be included, privacy concerns mayencourage that the NME does not constantly monitor any registered user'slocation while connected to the CSS. For example, the NME may notretrieve location data until an alert is received. In other embodiments,the NME may obtain the location data once the CSS application isactivated on the user's device, such as opening the application. In suchembodiments, the idea is that a registered user may be seeking togenerate an alert notification. In some embodiments, the location datamay be retrieved from the first registered user's device only ifrequested by one or more of the administrator devices.

At 1108, the NME broadcasts the tagged alert notification to one or moreadministrator devices. By broadcasting the message to a plurality ofadministrators, the NME ensures that at least one administrator willnotice the alert and address the situation. In various embodiments, morethan one administrator may acknowledge the alert via an CSS applicationoperating on the administrator device. In such cases, a group message iscreated.

At 1110, for each administrator that acknowledges the alert, the NMEopens a secure communication channel between the first registered user'sdevice and one or more administrator devices. The communication channelinterface 400 of FIG. 4 was discussed earlier with respect to thestudent user interface 300 of FIG. 2. FIG. 12 illustrates an examplecommunication channel interface 1200 from the perspective of anadministrator in accordance with the technology of the presentdisclosure. As seen in FIG. 12, the communication channel interface 1200is not much different from the student's communication channel interface400 described above.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the communication channel interface 1200 ofthe administrators and/or police includes an identification area 1202,containing information identifying the first registered user and thealert type selected for initiation. In some embodiments, greater orlesser detail may be included within the identification area 1202, oravailable through an information button 1204.

As discussed above, location information may be included with the alertnotification. In some embodiments, the communication channel interface1200 may include a map button 1206. By pressing the map button 1206, anadministrator or the police may view where the first registered user islocated within the security zone. The map button 1206 may textuallydisplay the first registered user's location, such as an insertdisplaying an address, building name, or other location identification.A visual representation of the first registered user's location may bedisplayed in various embodiments. FIG. 13 is an illustration of alocation visualization interface 1300 in accordance with suchembodiments of the present disclosure.

In addition to utilizing location information to provide more context toan emergency, the NME 202 may utilize location information to determinewhether a user should be permitted to initiate an alert. In someimplementations, it may be beneficial to limit the ability of registeredusers, such as students, to generate an emergency alert while notphysically located on campus. In addition to tagging emergency alertswith identifying information, limiting the ability to send alerts fromoutside the security zone helps curtail potential abuse of the two-waycommunication to generate false emergency alerts for purposes of pranks.To combat this, the NME 202 includes a “geo-fence” capability, used todetermine whether an emergency alert should be permitted to be sent toadministrative users.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example CSS 1400 with which a “geo-fence”capability of the NME 1402 in accordance with the technology of thepresent disclosure is described. In addition to utilizing locationinformation to provide more context to an emergency, the NME 202 mayutilize location information to determine whether a user should bepermitted to initiate an alert. In some implementations, it may bebeneficial to limit the ability of registered users, such as students,to generate an emergency alert while not physically located on campus.In addition to tagging emergency alerts with identifying information,limiting the ability to send alerts from outside the security zone helpscurtail potential abuse of the two-way communication to generate falseemergency alerts for purposes of pranks. To combat this, the NME 202includes a “geo-fence” capability, used to determine whether anemergency alert should be permitted to be sent to administrative users.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, the CSS 1400 is similar to the CSS 200described with respect to FIG. 2. Unlike FIG. 2, however, the CSS 1400shows user device 1406 a, which is outside the security zone 1410, anduser device 1406 b, which is inside the security zone. When an NME 1402receives an emergency alert from 1406 a and 1406 b, the NME 1402 canutilize location data from the user device of the registered users todetermine whether the user is within the security zone and, accordingly,should be permitted to notify one or more administrators of a potentialemergency.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of an example location-based capabilitydetermination method of the NME 1402 in accordance with embodiments ofthe technology herein disclosed. At 1502, the NME 1402 receives an alertnotification from a registered user. At 1504, the NME 1402 identifiesthe user category associated with the registered user who sent the alertnotification. As discussed above, the registered user may have been astudent, teacher, administrator, or police in various embodiments. TheNME 1402 determines which user category applies to the registered userwho sent the alert notification. In the example school implementation,only registered users associated with the administrator user category ofthe police user category are allowed to initiate an alert notificationfrom outside the security zone, while students and teachers are onlycapable of generating an emergency alert while within the security zone.Not only does this help curtail pranks and make it easier to maintainaccountability, such limitation helps to ensure that the students' andteachers' privacies are protected.

If the NME 1402 identifies the registered user as being associated withthe administrator user category or the police user category, the NME1402 proceeds normally, broadcasting the alert notification to one ormore administrator devices at 1506.

If the NME 1402 identified the registered user as being associated withthe student user category of the teacher user category, the NME 1402identifies the location of the registered user. In many embodiments,identifying the location of the registered user may involve retrievinglocation data from the user device of the registered user. Suchinformation may be obtained by the NME 1402 by retrieving theinformation from a GPS receiver of the user device, in some embodiments.In other embodiments, the location information may be included in theoriginal alert notification.

Once the NME 1402 identifies the registered user's location, the NME1402 determines whether the registered user's location is within thesecurity zone at 1510. As stated above, in some embodiments the studentuser category and teacher user category are limited to only sendingalert notifications to one or more administrators when on campus (i.e.,within the security zone). If the NME 1402 determines that the studentor teacher is within the security zone, the NME 1402 at 1506 proceedsnormally. If the NME 1402 determines that the student or teacher isoutside of the security zone, the NME 1402 at 1512 does not send thealert notification to one or more administrator devices. In someembodiments, the NME 1402 may display an error message to the student orteacher via the user interface of the CSS application operating on theuser device.

As discussed above with respect to FIG. 8, a student user category maybe associated with, or tethered to, a parent user category. Withreference to FIG. 14, the CSS 1400 may enable a student user to send analert from outside the security zone 1410 to the tethered parent in someembodiments. FIG. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating another examplelocation-based capability determination method involving tethered usercategories in accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosedherein.

At 1802, the NME 1402 identifies the location of the registered studentuser. Although not shown, the identification of the registered studentuser's location is determined after the NME 1402 identifies a receivedalert as coming from a student user, similar to 1502 and 1504 describedwith respect to FIG. 15. In many embodiments, identifying the locationof the registered user may involve retrieving location data from theuser device of the registered user. Such information may be obtained bythe NME 1402 by retrieving the information from a GPS receiver of theuser device, in some embodiments. In other embodiments, the locationinformation may be included in the original alert notification.

The NME 1402 then determines whether the registered student user iswithin the security zone at 1804. If the NME 1402 determines that thestudent is within the security zone, the NME 1402 at 1806 proceedsnormally and transmits the alert to one or more administrator devices.

If the NME 1402 determines that the student is outside of the securityzone, the NME 1402 at 1808 determines whether the registered studentuser is tethered with another registered user. If the NME 1402determines that the student is not tethered with any other registeredusers, no alert is sent at 1810. If the NME does determine that thestudent is tethered with another registered user, the NME 1402 at 1814sends the alert to the tethered registered user.

In some embodiments, administrators, police, or other individuals ororganizations with emergency management responsibilities (e.g., crisismanagers) may want to seek information regarding the status of one ormore groups of registered members. FIGS. 23A and 23B illustrate anexample administrator interface 2300 and population status interface2350 in accordance with embodiments of the technology of the presentdisclosure. The administrator interface 2300 is a modification of theexample administrator interface discussed with respect to FIG. 9. Asillustrated in FIG. 23A, the administrator interface 2300 includes thesame elements as FIG. 9, with the addition of a population status button2305. A population status is a special type of broadcast communication.Instead of broadcasting information out to the registered members of anorganization, the population status check allows for administrators orother parties with emergency management responsibilities to obtaininformation on the status of all or some of its members.

As discussed in greater detail below with respect to FIGS. 24A and 24B,a population status check broadcast sends a request to members of theorganization to respond with an update on their current condition. Inthe event a member is unable to respond, the lack of response may beindicative of a situation developing for which someone shouldinvestigate. Moreover, based on the responses that are received, theadministrators may be able to identify that an emergency is developingor ongoing in a particular area, despite the lack of an alert beingreceived. Clicking the population status button 2305 accesses thepopulation status interface 2350, illustrated in FIG. 23B.

As illustrated in FIG. 23B, the population status interface 2350includes a sent request window 2355. The sent request window 2355identifies past population status check requests that an administratoror other party with emergency management responsibilities sent. In someembodiments, the sent request window 2355 may maintain a listing of allprior requests, a specific number of prior requests (e.g. up to fourrequests), or a listing of all requests sent within a predeterminedperiod of time (e.g., all requests sent within the past 30 days). An“Active” indicator may be appended to any request that is still ongoing.In various embodiments, a request may remain “Active” for a particulartime period (e.g., for an hour), until all registered members haveresponded, or until the party that initiated the request ends it.

To initiate a population status check, the administrator can tap thesend status request button 2360 of the population status interface 2350.In some embodiments, the send status request button may be representedby a graphical icon in the top bar of the population status interface2350, similar to the lockdown icon discussed above with respect to FIG.9. When sending a population status check, the administrator may chooseto send out a request to all registered members of the organization insome embodiments. In other embodiments, the administrator may decide tosend the request only to certain categories of users, such as students,teachers, or parents.

When a population status request is sent, each member of theorganization is alerted to the request. FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate anexample student interface 2400 and population status response interface2450, in accordance with embodiments of the technology discussed herein.The student interface 2400 is similar to the student interface discussedwith respect to FIG. 3, with the addition of a population status requestindicator 2410. A similar population status request indicator 2410 mayalso be included with the teacher interface discussed with respect toFIG. 6, and/or the administrator interface discussed with respect toFIG. 9. In various embodiments, the population status request indicator2410 may only be present when a population status request has been sent.The population status indicator 2410, in other embodiments, may also bepresent in the student interface 2400, and a new request indicator(e.g., a red exclamation point as illustrated in FIG. 24A) may appear toindicate that a new request has been received.

When a student presses the population status request indicator 2410, astatus response interface 2450 is accessed, as illustrated in FIG. 2450.The example status response interface 2450 may, in some embodiments,include a listing of several pre-identified responses from which eachstudent may select. In some embodiments, an additional “other” optionmay be include (not pictured), in which the student may provide adifferent response from the pre-identified ones, or provide moreelaboration on the situation. In some embodiments, the student may beable to update the response while the status request is still active,enabling for the most up to date information to be provided.

Using the responses received from the different members of theorganization, several analytical measures may be determined. In someembodiments, the NME may store the responses from all members of theorganization. The NME may analyze the responses to identify any patternswith respect to the location of users and the types of responses theyprovided. For example, if a significant number of users indicated thatthey were on campus, but not safe, the NME could determine whether thoseusers were all in the same area. In such cases, it may be indicative ofa particular emergency developing or occurring in that area. The NMEcould provide this information to the administrator that sent thepopulation status request.

In various embodiments, the NME may analyze the responses and determinethat several users are updating their status while the population statusrequest remains active. In addition, the NME may retrieve locationinformation on the responding and/or all of the users. Based on theupdates and the location information, the NME may analyze the changes todetermine whether there is a pattern present indicating that there is amoving danger, such as an armed assailant. The NME may then indicate tothe administrator that requested the population status check request ofthe state of the danger.

Various embodiments discussed above view the operation from theperspective of a single organization maintaining a CSS. When a member ofan organization sends an alert, that alert is received by theadministrators or crisis managers of that particular organization.Multiple organizations, however, may implement their own notificationsystem, maintain their own list of registered users and defining its ownsecurity zone. In such situations, the NME (discussed above with respectto FIGS. 1 and 2) may manage the security zones associated with each ofthe organizations, such that each members of each organization areisolated from each other. This separation allows for each organizationto push out notifications and manage only those users within its ownorganization, who are generally the ones most interested innotifications within the organization. Moreover, this isolation ensuresecurity of the information of registered users of each organization.

Although beneficial, this separation and lack of communication betweenthe CSS employed by each organization may cause unintended results wheremultiple organizations are located within the same vicinity as theother. If a member of one organization notices an emergency occurringwhile within the security zone of another organization (e.g., if astudent from a local university is at a shopping mall that employs aCSS), any alert that member attempts to send may only be sent to theadministrators of the member's organization, or not sent at all (ifalerts cannot be generated while outside the geo-fence of the member'sorganization). This raises the chance that an emergency alert to theshopping mall's CSS administrators may be delayed, or not beacknowledged at all.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example situation of multiple organizationshaving individual security zones (with geo-fencing) in accordance withembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. As illustrated,Organization A has set up a security zone 2110, Organization B has setup a security zone 2120, Organization C has set up a security zone 2130,and Organization D has set up a security zone 2140. In the illustratedembodiment, each organization (A, B, C, and D) have each implemented aCSS similar to the CSS discussed above with respect to FIGS. 1-16,18-20, 23A, 23B, 24A, and 24B. Although not pictured, in the illustratedembodiment the CSS of each organization is managed through a common NME(as discussed with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2).

As illustrated in FIG. 21, when a member of Organization A is presentedat spot 2115 x, he is within the security zone of Organization A. Insuch cases, the member is capable of sending an alert to theadministrators of Organization A, similar to the embodiments discussedabove. When the member of Organization A moves to spot 2115 y, he is nolonger within the security zone of Organization A 2110, but is withinthe security zone of Organization B 2120. In some embodiments, themember is unable to generate an alert for an emergency because he isoutside of the security zone for Organization A 2110. In otherembodiments, the member may still generate an alert while he is withinthe security zone 2120 at spot 2115 y, but the alert would only bereceived by the administrators of Organization A, as the member at spot2115 y is only a member of Organization A. However, as the emergency isoccurring within security zone 2120 associated with Organization B, thiscould lead to a delay in response to the emergency.

In various embodiments, a member of one organization (e.g., OrganizationA) may be capable of generating an alert that is receivable by a secondorganization (e.g., Organization B) while that member is located withinthe security zone of the second organization. When the member ofOrganization A sends an alert while positioned at spot 2115 y, the NMEcan identify that the member is within the security zone 2120 associatedwith Organization B. Accordingly, the NME may route the alert generatedby the user to the administrators of Organization B as if the user was amember of Organization B the whole time. In some embodiments, the NMEmay also create a secure communication channel between the member ofOrganization A and the administrators of Organization B, similar to thesecure communication channel and features discussed above with respectto FIGS. 11-13. The member of Organization A may be treated by the NMEas if he was a member of Organization B. In various embodiments, the NMEmay limit the amount of information on the member that is available toOrganization B, such as limiting the information only to the location ofthe member. In some embodiments, the NME may tag the alert withanonymity information, which masks the identity of the user but stillenables Organization B to interact and respond to the emergency. Theanonymity data may comprise a numerical or alphanumerical term thatprovides a way for Organization B to refer to the user, but withoutknowing anything personal about the user. In this way, the member may beable to avail himself of the secure communication features of the CSS ofOrganization B, but the integrity of the separate organization'sinformation may be maintained by the NME.

As illustrated in FIG. 21, in some embodiments the security zones ofdifferent organizations may overlap, creating a shared notification zone2150. In various embodiments, when a member of Organization D is locatedat spot 2135, she is within the shared notification zone 2150 comprisinga portion of both security zone 2140 associated with Organization A andsecurity zone 2130 associated with Organization C. Both organizationsshare a responsibility over the safety of its members within the sharednotification zone 2150. When the member of Organization D sends an alertfrom spot 2135, the NME receives the alert and identifies that themember is located within the shared notification zone 2150. In additionto forwarding the alert to administrators of Organization D, the NME mayalso forward the alert to the administrators of Organization C, whichalso shares a responsibility and interest over the shared notificationzone 2150. The NME may further provide the member of Organization D withadditional features of the CSS of Organization C (e.g., securecommunication with administrators) in a similar manner as discussedabove with respect to the example involving Organizations A and B inFIG. 21.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example process of inter-organizationalcommunication in accordance with embodiments of the technology disclosedherein. At 2210, the NME receives an emergency alert from a user. At2220, the NME identifies the location of the user sending the emergencyalert. In some embodiments, the location of the user may be tagged toand/or included in the alert received by the NME, and identificationwould entail retrieving the location information. In other embodiments,the NME may request location data from the user's device, such as forexample from a GPS component of the user's device.

At 2230, the NME determines one or more organizations associated withthe user's location. In some embodiments, the NME may compare theidentified location against a listing of the boundaries of securityzones associated with the organizations managed by the NME. At 2240, theNME determines if the user is a member of any of the organizations. Byidentifying whether the user is a registered member of any of theorganizations associated with the user's location, the NME may provideadditional information and capabilities, similar to those discussed withrespect to FIGS. 11, 15, 16, and 18.

At 2250, the NME sends the alert to the administrators and/or crisismanagers associated with each of the identified organizations. Where thesecurity zones of two separate organizations overlap, the NME may sendthe alert to both organizations. If the user is a member of one of theorganizations determined to be associated with the user's location, theNME may proceed to operate in a manner similar to that discussed withrespect to FIGS. 11, 15, 16, and 18. If the user is not a member of oneor the organizations, the NME may send the alert to the administratorsand/or crisis managers of that organization and provide a modifiedversion of the services discussed with respect to FIGS. 11, 15, 16, and18, in some embodiments. In this way, the NME can ensure that theinterested administrators are notified of emergencies occurring withintheir security zones, regardless of whether the user reporting theemergency is registered with the affected organization.

Although discussed in view of an example implementation by a school, thetechnology of the present disclosure is not limited only to the schoolenvironment. The technology may be implemented in many different typesof institutions, such as hospitals, shopping malls, fairs and carnivals,conferences centers and convention halls, theme parks, sports venues,and other institutions where many people congregate. The technology mayalso be implemented by less publically accessible institutions, such asfactories, government buildings, or office buildings. After reading thedescription herein, it will become apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that the disclosed technology can be implemented on any numberof different campuses and by any number of different institutions.Nothing in this disclosure should be interpreted as limiting the scopeof the technology disclosed herein to the discussed embodiments.

As used herein, the term module might describe a given unit offunctionality that can be performed in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the technology disclosed herein. As used herein, a modulemight be implemented utilizing any form of hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For example, one or more processors, controllers,ASICs, PLAs, PALs, CPLDs, FPGAs, logical components, software routinesor other mechanisms might be implemented to make up a module. Inimplementation, the various modules described herein might beimplemented as discrete modules or the functions and features describedcan be shared in part or in total among one or more modules. In otherwords, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art afterreading this description, the various features and functionalitydescribed herein may be implemented in any given application and can beimplemented in one or more separate or shared modules in variouscombinations and permutations. Even though various features or elementsof functionality may be individually described or claimed as separatemodules, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that thesefeatures and functionality can be shared among one or more commonsoftware and hardware elements, and such description shall not requireor imply that separate hardware or software components are used toimplement such features or functionality.

Where components or modules of the technology are implemented in wholeor in part using software, in one embodiment, these software elementscan be implemented to operate with a computing or processing modulecapable of carrying out the functionality described with respectthereto. One such example computing module is shown in FIG. 17. Variousembodiments are described in terms of this example-computing module1700. After reading this description, it will become apparent to aperson skilled in the relevant art how to implement the technology usingother computing modules or architectures.

Referring now to FIG. 17, computing module 1700 may represent, forexample, computing or processing capabilities found within desktop,laptop and notebook computers; hand-held computing devices (PDA's, smartphones, cell phones, palmtops, etc.); mainframes, supercomputers,workstations or servers; or any other type of special-purpose orgeneral-purpose computing devices as may be desirable or appropriate fora given application or environment. Computing module 1700 might alsorepresent computing capabilities embedded within or otherwise availableto a given device. For example, a computing module might be found inother electronic devices such as, for example, digital cameras,navigation systems, cellular telephones, portable computing devices,modems, routers, WAPs, terminals and other electronic devices that mightinclude some form of processing capability.

Computing module 1700 might include, for example, one or moreprocessors, controllers, control modules, or other processing devices,such as a processor 1704. Processor 1704 might be implemented using ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processing engine such as, forexample, a microprocessor, controller, or other control logic. In theillustrated example, processor 1704 is connected to a bus 1702, althoughany communication medium can be used to facilitate interaction withother components of computing module 1700 or to communicate externally.

Computing module 1700 might also include one or more memory modules,simply referred to herein as main memory 1708. For example, preferablyrandom access memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, might be used forstoring information and instructions to be executed by processor 1704.Main memory 1708 might also be used for storing temporary variables orother intermediate information during execution of instructions to beexecuted by processor 1704. Computing module 1700 might likewise includea read only memory (“ROM”) or other static storage device coupled to bus1702 for storing static information and instructions for processor 1704.

The computing module 1700 might also include one or more various formsof information storage mechanism 1710, which might include, for example,a media drive 1712 and a storage unit interface 1720. The media drive1712 might include a drive or other mechanism to support fixed orremovable storage media 1714. For example, a hard disk drive, a floppydisk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a CD or DVDdrive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive might beprovided. Accordingly, storage media 1714 might include, for example, ahard disk, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, cartridge, optical disk, a CDor DVD, or other fixed or removable medium that is read by, written toor accessed by media drive 1712. As these examples illustrate, thestorage media 1714 can include a computer usable storage medium havingstored therein computer software or data.

In alternative embodiments, information storage mechanism 1710 mightinclude other similar instrumentalities for allowing computer programsor other instructions or data to be loaded into computing module 1700.Such instrumentalities might include, for example, a fixed or removablestorage unit 1722 and an interface 1720. Examples of such storage units1722 and interfaces 1720 can include a program cartridge and cartridgeinterface, a removable memory (for example, a flash memory or otherremovable memory module) and memory slot, a PCMCIA slot and card, andother fixed or removable storage units 1722 and interfaces 1720 thatallow software and data to be transferred from the storage unit 1722 tocomputing module 1700.

Computing module 1700 might also include a communications interface1724. Communications interface 1724 might be used to allow software anddata to be transferred between computing module 1700 and externaldevices. Examples of communications interface 1724 might include a modemor softmodem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet, networkinterface card, WiMedia, IEEE 802.XX or other interface), acommunications port (such as for example, a USB port, IR port, RS232port Bluetooth® interface, or other port), or other communicationsinterface. Software and data transferred via communications interface1724 might typically be carried on signals, which can be electronic,electromagnetic (which includes optical) or other signals capable ofbeing exchanged by a given communications interface 1724. These signalsmight be provided to communications interface 1724 via a channel 1728.This channel 1728 might carry signals and might be implemented using awired or wireless communication medium. Some examples of a channel mightinclude a phone line, a cellular link, an RF link, an optical link, anetwork interface, a local or wide area network, and other wired orwireless communications channels.

In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computerusable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as, forexample, memory 1708, storage unit 1720, media 1714, and channel 1728.These and other various forms of computer program media or computerusable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one ormore instructions to a processing device for execution. Suchinstructions embodied on the medium, are generally referred to as“computer program code” or a “computer program product” (which may begrouped in the form of computer programs or other groupings). Whenexecuted, such instructions might enable the computing module 1700 toperform features or functions of the disclosed technology as discussedherein.

While various embodiments of the disclosed technology have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the variousdiagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration forthe disclosed technology, which is done to aid in understanding thefeatures and functionality that can be included in the disclosedtechnology. The disclosed technology is not restricted to theillustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desiredfeatures can be implemented using a variety of alternative architecturesand configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in theart how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning andconfigurations can be implemented to implement the desired features ofthe technology disclosed herein. Also, a multitude of differentconstituent module names other than those depicted herein can be appliedto the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams,operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the stepsare presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments beimplemented to perform the recited functionality in the same orderunless the context dictates otherwise.

Although the disclosed technology is described above in terms of variousexemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood thatthe various features, aspects and functionality described in one or moreof the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability tothe particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead canbe applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of theother embodiments of the disclosed technology, whether or not suchembodiments are described and whether or not such features are presentedas being a part of a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scopeof the technology disclosed herein should not be limited by any of theabove-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,”“standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construedas limiting the item described to a given time period or to an itemavailable as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, wherethis document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known toone of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass thoseapparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in thefuture.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “atleast,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instancesshall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or requiredin instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of theterm “module” does not imply that the components or functionalitydescribed or claimed as part of the module are all configured in acommon package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of amodule, whether control logic or other components, can be combined in asingle package or separately maintained and can further be distributedin multiple groupings or packages or across multiple locations.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described interms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations.As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art afterreading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their variousalternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustratedexamples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying descriptionshould not be construed as mandating a particular architecture orconfiguration.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a notification managemententity comprising one or more servers, the notification managemententity communicatively coupled to one or more user devices and one ormore administrator devices; a plurality of registered users, whereineach registered user of the plurality of registered users is associatedwith an organization, and a user category of a set of user categoriesassociated with the organization; the notification management entitymaintaining a list of the plurality of registered users, the registereduser's associated organization, the registered user's user category, andthe boundaries of a security zone associated the user's organization,each security zone comprising a continuous geographic area, one or morebuildings or other structures, one or more non-continuous geographicareas, or a combination thereof; an application operating on each of theone or more user devices and the one or more administrator devices, eachsecurity zone associated with at least one administrator device; whereinthe notification management entity, upon receiving an emergency alertfrom a registered user's user device that is physically located withinthe security zone of the registered user's organization, opens adedicated and secure communication channel between the user device andone or more administrator devices associated with the registered user'sassociated organization, and wherein data transmitted between the one ormore user devices, one or more administrator devices, and thenotification management entity are encrypted; wherein the notificationmanagement entity determines if the registered user that generated thealert is also physically located within an overlapping portion of asecurity zone of a second organization, the registered user not being amember of the second organization; wherein the notification managemententity provides the emergency alert received from the registered user toan administrator device of the second organization.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the notification management entity opens a dedicatedand secure communication channel between the user device and theadministrator device of the second organization.
 3. The system of claim1, wherein the administrator device of the second organization comprisesat least one administrator device associated with an emergency medicalservices department.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein voice, video,text, or photographs may be transmitted over the communication channelbetween the user device of the registered user and the administratordevice of the second organization.
 5. The system of claim 1, thenotification management entity further maintaining the anonymity of theregistered user from the administrator device while an emergency alertinitiated by the registered user is ongoing.
 6. The system of claim 4,wherein information of a registered user includes at least one of: nameof the registered user; email address of the registered user; locationdata of the registered user, wherein location data is obtained by thenotification management entity only when the emergency alert isinitiated; or phone number of the registered user.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, the notification management entity providing a set ofcapabilities to a registered user via a user interface of the systemapplication operating on a user device or an administrator deviceassociated with the registered user.
 8. The system of claim 6, the setof capabilities being the set of capabilities associated with theassociated user category of the registered user logged into theapplication operating on the user device or the administrator device. 9.The system of claim 1, the notification management entity configured toobtain location data of a registered user from one or more locationsystems of a user device.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein thelocation systems of the user device comprises a GPS receiver.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the application comprises a programdownloaded to a user device or an administrator device.
 12. The systemof claim 1, wherein the application comprises an application runningwithin a web browser software operating on a user device or anadministrator device.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the system isimplemented by a school, and the set of user categories comprises one ormore of: a student user category; an administrator user category; ateacher user category; or a police user category.
 14. The system ofclaim 13, the security zone comprising one or more school buildings andgrounds defining a school campus, and wherein the notificationmanagement entity prohibits a registered user associated with thestudent user category to initiate an emergency alert when the registereduser is not within a security zone.
 15. The system of claim 14, thesecurity zone further comprising a buffer zone extending beyond theschool campus.
 16. The system of claim 13, the set of user categoriesfurther comprising a parent user category, and wherein a registered userassociated with the parent user category can be tethered to a registereduser associated with the student user category and the notificationmanagement entity sends an emergency alert generated by the registereduser associated with the student user category to the tetheredregistered user associated with the parent user category.
 17. The systemof claim 1, wherein a first registered user associated with a usercategory may be tethered to a second registered user associated with asecond user category.
 18. The system of claim 19, wherein thenotification management entity sends an emergency alert generated by thefirst registered user to the second registered user when the firstregistered user is outside the security zone.
 19. The system of claim 1,wherein the notification management entity, upon receipt of a requestfor an escort, transmits location data associated with a requestingregistered user to one or more of the plurality of registered users ofthe second organization.